Nikon has announced its firmware 2.0 upgrade for the Z9. Before you get too excited, this is just an announcement and you can’t actually download it till the 20th of April.
The upcoming free firmware update will add in-camera 8.3K 60p 12-bit Internal RAW, oversampling at 4K UHD 60p, and a ton of still-photo improvements.
This is a very big upgrade and looks to further enhance and improve Nikon’s flagship mirrorless hybrid.
8.3K 60p 12-bit Internal RAW
With the upcoming Z9 firmware you will be able to record 8.3K (8256 x 4644) 60p in Nikon’s new N-RAW format or up to 4.1K 60p in ProRes RAW HQ. According to Nikon, this will allow the Z9 to capture the largest possible color depth and a vast dynamic range for maximum flexibility when color grading and in post-production. Whether dynamic range and image quality are actually improved over the internal ProRes recordings when shooting in N-Log will be interesting to see.
Nikon’s new N-RAW (.NEV file) is claimed to produce a 12-bit RAW video file that’s half the size of equivalent ProRes RAW HQ files. The whole aim of N-RAW is to create smaller file sizes so users can record for longer periods of time as well as having less data-intensive files to work with in post
N-RAW footage can be recorded in the following formats:
Full Frame/FX Mode
- 8.3K 60p
- 8.3K 50p
- 8.3K 30p
- 8.3K 24p
- 4.1K 120p
- 4.1K 100p
- 4.1K 60p
- 4.1K 50p
- 4.1K 30p
- 4.1K 25p
- 4.1K 24p
2.3x Crop
- 3.8K 120p
- 3.8K 100p
1.5x DX Crop
- 5.4K 60p
- 5.4K 50p
- 5.4K 30p
- 5.4K 25p
- 5.4K 24p
Nikon doesn’t list PAL frame rates such as 25p, 50p, and 100p, but I have confirmed with them that they will be available when recording internal RAW. Also even though they list 24p, I am pretty sure it is only 23.98p.
What is nice is that when you record N-RAW it also creates an mp4 proxy file.
It is really interesting to see that the Z9 has the ability to be able to record N-RAW and ProRes RAW internally. I was quite skeptical that this would actually materialize because we have seen both Kinefinity and DJI announce cameras with internal RAW and then subsequently that has been removed before they ever shipped.
The Z9 uses a high-efficiency RAW codec for stills that comes from intoPIX. intoPIX also makes a video version of this same RAW codec called TicoRAW. One of the options available is IPX-TicoRAW-8K (up to 8192-pixels width). This is available in 12-bit and up to 60fps. This is what Nikon will be using in the Z9.
Here is what intoPIX officially said in December last year: The new Z 9 camera offers High-Efficiency RAW recording up to 8K and 60fps (available through the 2022 firmware update), preserving all the benefits of the RAW format, while ensuring very low power processing and very fast transfer speed.
With TicoRAW, the full quality of the captured sensor data is preserved while reducing the bandwidth and the storage needs. It can be used for both Still pictures and RAW movies. This patented technology offers high image quality, and the capability to manage very high resolutions, high frame rates and high dynamic range workflows. TicoRAW is the world’s first RAW codec that can offer compression efficiency with such low complexity. It also has the advantage of retaining this very fast format for editing, regardless of resolution and/or frame rates used.
Above you can see how much recording time you can get on a 1TB card/SSD if you were recording TicoRAW 12-bit at 60fps. There appear to be three versions of Tico RAW with varying compression values. I imagine that Nikon is able to offer internal RAW recording in the Z9 because according to intoPIX, TicoRAW has its own patent that must allow it to circumnavigate RED’s patent.
N-RAW will be supported by EDIUS X ver.10.3.2 (by Grass Valley), DaVinci Resolve 17.4.6 and DaVinci Resolve Studio 17.4.6. What is a little strange is that neither Apple or Adobe has announced support for N-RAW.
Other Video Feature Enhancements
With the upcoming firmware update, 4K UHD 60p footage will be oversampled from 8K, instead of the current pixel binning that takes place.
REC frame indicator
A Red REC frame indicator will also be added so that you can more easily identify when you are actually recording. At the moment all you get is a small red record dot. This REC frame indicator will be available in the EVF and rear LCD screen. It isn’t clear whether or not this will be available on the HDMI out if you want to see it on an external monitor.
Waveform
Nikon has also sorted out some of the video assist tools and they will finally be adding a waveform display.
Dedicated Video Info Display
A new dedicated video info display will let users see various video recording settings at a glance, such as frame size, frame rate, audio settings, codec, bit depth and HDMI output settings. All of these key parameters will be able to be seen on a single screen. Nikon will also be adding a frame rate/size display on the top control panel helps to confirm when the rear monitor is difficult to view.
Fine ISO control
A Fine ISO control (Mode M) will enable exposure adjustments in increments of 1/6 EV. This is quite interesting because you can select ISO settings that you wouldn’t traditionally find on cameras.
Fast AF-ON
A new Fast AF-ON function will allow a user to assign different AF speeds to separate controls. Two speeds are now assignable on customizable buttons so you can easily switch between fast or slower AF transitions.
Slow Shutter
To enable slow shutter video recording in extremely dark scenes or intentionally introduce blur when shooting video in M mode, the shutter speed can be set at a slower than 1/frame rate.
Save Video as a series of JPEG images
With select frame rates and resolution settings, the user now has the ability to save consecutive frames in a selected section of video footage as a series of JPEG images while the playback is paused.
Z9 Still-Photo Upgrades
Firmware 2.0 for the Z9 also adds still-photo features, including enhancements to autofocus and high-speed image capture. When shooting at 30fps or 120fps in High-Speed Frame Capture+, the camera starts capturing up to one full second before the shutter is fully depressed. This gives the user extra time to trigger the camera and you can potentially then capture images you would have previously missed. When half-pressing the shutter, the camera can record frames up to one full second before and up to four seconds after the shutter is fully pressed, all with no viewfinder blackout.
Twenty types of Custom Wide-Area AF selection patterns have been added, giving the user more control over what part of the frame they want to focus on, which can also work in conjunction with subject detection. This is useful for a variety of sports. Twelve additional patterns are available for video capture.
A new Retouch menu feature, Motion Blend creates an in-camera overlay from a series of subject movements from continuous shooting into a single picture in-camera.
The Z9 also gets upgraded AF stability, tracking performance, and subject detection in low-light situations.
When reviewing images, users now have the option to skip to the first shot in a given burst.
For capturing star trails and long exposures, Firmware 2.0 enhances the Z9’s Long Exposure display to include a live count of the exposure time. Users also can now dim the viewfinder further and with greater precision to preserve power.
Firmware 2.0 adds a high fps viewfinder display function to increase the refresh rate to 120 fps.
Auto Exposure (AE) has been enhanced to create more stable exposure with human faces, such as when a subject turns away from the camera and then faces it again, or when the composition changes.
Improved Prioritize viewfinder monitor mode gives a familiar shooting and review flow.
Prefer sub-selector center will be added to the custom menu, improving the operability of the sub-selector.
There will be improvements in AWB even when the scene changes rapidly and adjustments to Choose color temperature and preset manual WB.
For confirmation of high-speed shooting, visual shutter release indicators appear clearly on the display and the Real Live Viewfinder.
An enhanced memory set/recall function enables instant recall of several focus positions.
Recalling shooting functions (hold) will be added to the conventional Recalling shooting functions, enabling the users to maintain the recalled function without continually pressing a button.
There is also an option to switch focus/control ring roles helps photographers who don’t need manual focusing employ the control ring.
Z7 II & Z6 II firmware update
The Z7 II and Z6 II will also get a new firmware update (v.1.4) that is claimed to enhance AF performance as well as offer other improvements. This update will also be available on the 20th of April to download.
